Ecotoxicology of glyphosate and recent advances in its mitigation by adsorption

Glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycine) is one of the most popular herbicides now used in agricultural practice. The aim of this paper was to discuss the research progress and innovations in recent years on the mitigation of glyphosate (GLY) from aqueous media by adsorption. The ecotoxicology of GLY was discussed in the domain of its chronic and sub-chronic toxicity, genotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and carcinogenicity, and potential risks of food contamination were discussed. It was observed that polymers and resins are the best class of adsorbents for GLY adsorption from aqueous media. GLY adsorption was best fit to either Freundlich or Langmuir isotherm depending on the nature of the adsorbent. The pseudo-second-order kinetics was also the best fit for modelling the kinetics of GLY adsorption. A review of the thermodynamics revealed that GLY adsorption was usually spontaneous and exothermic. Research trends and knowledge gaps are in the area of chemical mobility in environmental systems (especially in the presence of other chemical species), the use of heavy metal-laden adsorbent and molecular modelling. Furthermore, it was observed that the ecotoxicology of GLY still has some contentious areas where there is no conclusive stance.

Automated summary

Glyphosate is widely used as an herbicide in agriculture. Recent research has focused on the adsorption of glyphosate from aqueous media, with polymers and resins identified as the best adsorbents. Adsorption of glyphosate follows either Freundlich or Langmuir isotherm, with the pseudo-second-order kinetics being the best fit for modeling its kinetics. Spontaneous and exothermic glyphosate adsorption was observed, with ongoing research focusing on chemical mobility, heavy metal-laden adsorbents, and molecular modeling in environmental systems.